The present invention relates to a leg support for a wheelchair for invalids, comprising a vertical supporting tube, which is detachably mountable on said wheelchair, a horizontal arm being mounted on the upper end of said tube, which arm extends in the direction of travel and on which arm a leg support carrier, supporting a foot-plate and a calf-plate, is pivotably mounted by means of its upper end.
Leg supports of wheelchairs are generally in abutment with the front end of the seat. The thighs of the person sitting in the wheelchair rest on the seat, while the knee and the shins, together with the feet, hang down in front of the seat and are to be supported by the leg support. In order to achieve a wheelchair which is as compact as possible and has small dimensions, the leg support should not project beyond the seat and should also not be located too far in front of the seat in the direction of travel, so that the person sitting in the wheelchair can step out sideways from the wheelchair, once an arm support has been removed and can, for example, put himself into a bed.
If these requirements are met, the design of the wheelchair is such that the swivel axle lies at the upper end of the leg support carrier below the knee joint of the leg to be supported. However, this forces the leg support carrier to be longitudinally adjustable. Since the swivel axle of the leg support carrier has to be situated not only beneath the knee joint axis, but also slightly behind it in order to be able to support the knee joint satisfactorily in each position, owing to the thickness of the leg, various swivel methods have been provided for the upwardly-pivoting movement of the leg support carrier and shin. The foot support, therefore, describes an arc of a circle whose radius is smaller than the radius of the circle which the foot describes, because the swivel axle of the leg support carrier is disposed lower than and behind the knee joint axis. The length of the leg support carrier, including the foot support is, as the radius, shorter than the length of the shin, including the foot, of the person.
In the case of known wheelchairs having an upwardly-pivotable leg support, the leg support has to be adjusted specially to the required length depending on the desirable, adjustment inclination. The person sitting in the wheelchair is often unable to do this, so that an additional helper becomes necessary solely for pivoting the leg support.